This week, the UK Government released its long awaited plan to "level up" the United Kingdom but it has been criticised as unambitious and rambling.
"Levelling up" has been a buzz phrase for the Prime Minister since he was elected. He appointed Michael Gove as the man to deliver "improvements to every part of the UK" and last September a government department was rebranded to include "levelling up" in its title - ditching the existing "local government".
At the time, Mr Gove said it was to be the "defining mission of this government" and said it had responsibility to preserve the union of the United Kingdom.
On Wednesday, February 3, the report was published, but questions are being asked about what it will actually mean for Wales, what it can actually deliver, and how it will be funded.
Shadow secretary for state for Wales, Jo Stevens, said it was a "rambling, cobbled together document" which did nothing to show "how and when those stark inequalities in Wales will be addressed".
Plaid Cymru's Ceredigion MP Ben Lake said the document showed "how little ambition the UK Government has for Wales".
Ms Stevens said: "This White Paper on “levelling up” the stark economic and socio inequality of the UK after 12 continuous years of Tory government is a clear admission of its own failures. This was meant to be the Prime Minister’s defining mission of his government, but instead it’s a rambling, cobbled together document full of recycled announcements, empty rhetoric and fiddled figures.
"There is nothing specific or substantive in it to explain how and when those stark inequalities in Wales will be addressed. Nothing at all and that Tory 2019 manifesto promise that Wales would not receive a penny less in replacement funding for EU structural funds that went to our most deprived areas was another Boris Johnson lie."
Mr Lake said: "This official UK Government report is evidence were it ever needed that Westminster has failed to address the socio-economic challenges that Wales has inherited from decades of rule from London. Indeed, one need only look to the many graphs and figures for a visual demonstration of just how poorly the Union serves Wales.
"The headline achievement vaunted in this paper is the relocation of civil service jobs to Cardiff. If that is ‘levelling up’, people in Ceredigion and indeed many other areas of Wales will be left sorely disappointed.
"I encourage the people of Wales to read this report to see for themselves just how little ambition the UK Government has for Wales. It is only by demanding more powers for ourselves that we can address the chronic underperformance of our economy."
What is the point of the report?
The report itself says it is the "catalyst for delivering a long-term programme of change to unlock the potential of people and places in every part of the UK. This will create jobs, drive productivity, improve people’s quality of life and help restore their pride in the places where they live.
The report admits there is a "a large gap between London and most other regions – in both absolute and relative terms"
"These differences are long-lived and mean that the UK is not taking full advantage of the economic potential that all parts of the country have to offer." It also admits the differences have "widened over recent decades".
The 332-page report goes through a lot of detail, divided into three sections. The first is a series of graphs and tables, using data from the Office of National Statistics or government to look at how areas compare in terms of productivity, health, skills and more.
Here's the key graphs for Wales
GVA
Gross value added (GVA) provides a value for the amount of goods and services that have been produced in a country.
This report says that the lowest gross value added per hour worked figures were found in Powys, where figures are 42.39% less than the UK average.
In Wales, Cardiff is the council area with the highest productivity with a figure of 93. The lowest is Powys with 58.
Earnings
The report says that incomes track productivity closely, with average pay in the South East and London significantly above the national average. However, there is significant variation within regions. In the East of England median weekly pay in South Cambridge and St Albans is nearly double that of Norfolk, whilst median pay in Monmouthshire is higher than half of London’s local authorities.
Skills
The North East is the lowest performing region with seven out of twelve Local Authorities falling in the bottom quartile of the UK distribution.
In Wales there is huge variation. The highest proportion of the population aged 16-64 with level 3 + qualifications is in the Vale of Glamorgan, and Neath Port Talbot, Merthyr Tydfil, Caerphilly, Blaenau Gwent and Torfaen are lowest.
Life expectancy - men
There report says there are clear links between the places which have poor socioeconomic outcomes. These include coastal communities previously associated with tourism, parts of the North and Midlands with industrial legacies, and rural parts of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
The Welsh average for life expectancy for men in 78.3, in England the figure is 79.6, in Scotland it is 77.1 and 78.7 in Northern Ireland.
in London, the equivalent figure is 80.7, in Greater Manchester it is 78, Bristol it is 78.4.
Life expectancy - women
The Welsh average for life expectancy for women is 82.3., in England it is 83.2, Scotland is 81.1 and Northern Ireland 82.4. London's figure is 84.5, in Greater Manchester it is 81.5, Bristol it is 82.6
The areas 'left behind'
This graph shows council areas which, when looking at skills in the adult population, Gross Value Added per hour worked, median gross weekly pay and healthy life expectancy, have one, two, three or four measures in the bottom quartile.
In Wales, Blaenau Gwent is the only county with all four in the bottom quartile. Neighbouring Torfaen has three. Cardiff, Swansea, and Pembrokeshire have none.
Employment rates
This graph shows the employment rates between 2004 and 2020. It puts Wales (red line) at the bottom, or second bottom with the north, throughout the period covered.
Carbon dioxide emissions
Neath Port Talbot has the highest CO2 emissions in Wales and one of only four in the UK with such high levels.
So what does the document say it's going to do about it?
It has 12 "missions", all to be achieved by 2030.
- Pay, employment and productivity will have risen in every area of the UK, with each containing a globally competitive city, with the gap between the top performing and other areas closing.
- Domestic public investment in R&D outside the Greater South East will increase by at least 40% and at least one third over the Spending Review period, with that additional government funding seeking to leverage at least twice as much private sector investment over the long term to stimulate innovation and productivity growth.
- Local public transport connectivity across the country will be significantly closer to the standards of London, with improved services, simpler fares and integrated ticketing.
- The UK will have nationwide gigabit-capable broadband and 4G coverage, with 5G coverage for the majority of the population.
- The number of primary school children achieving the expected standard in reading, writing and maths will have significantly increased. In England, this will mean 90% of children will achieve the expected standard, and the percentage of children meeting the expected standard in the worst performing areas will have increased by over a third.
- The number of people successfully completing high-quality skills training will have significantly increased in every area of the UK. In England, this will lead to 200,000 more people successfully completing high-quality skills training annually, driven by 80,000 more people completing courses in the lowest skilled areas.
- The gap in Healthy Life Expectancy between local areas where it is highest and lowest will have narrowed, and by 2035 healthy life expectancy will rise by 5 years
- Well-being will have improved in every area of the UK, with the gap between top performing and other areas closing.
- Pride in place, such as people's satisfaction with their town centre and engagement in local culture and community, will have risen in every area of the UK, with the gap between the top performing and other areas closing.
- Renters will have a secure path to ownership with the number of first-time buyers increasing in all areas; and the government’s ambition is for the number of non-decent rented homes to have fallen by 50%, with the biggest improvements in the lowest performing areas.
- Homicide, serious violence, and neighbourhood crime will have fallen, focused on the worst-affected areas.
- Every part of England that wants one will have a devolution deal with powers at or approaching the highest level of devolution and a simplified, long-term funding settlement.
How will it work in Wales?
But many of those areas, such as transport, education, health and homes are devolved meaning it is up to Welsh Government to set policies in those areas.
Michael Gove has written each of the leaders of devolved nations. In that letter, he says "we therefore want to work with you and colleagues across the UK and beyond, in new and innovative ways, to share experiences, to analyse “what works” and so to reduce disparities and improve outcomes for everyone. We are open minded about exactly what institutional form this work might take and are keen to work with you and other colleagues on developing it. The intergovernmental relations structures established in the recently concluded Review of Intergovernmental Relations also provides us with an important new mechanism to coordinate collaborative work."
The document adds: "The UK Government will work closely with the devolved administrations, who hold the levers to drive change in devolved areas like health and education, and local partners to find the best way to alleviate spatial disparities in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
"This will ensure that, right across the UK, children reach expected standards in reading, writing and maths; that the number of people completing high quality skills training increases; and that the gaps in life expectancy close. Building on the recent success of theIntergovernmental Relations Review, the UK Government will explore the bestforums for this, including through: a. a specifc ministerial meeting between the UK Government and devolvedadministrations in the month following publication;b. a time-limited board established to develop a joint way of working totackle geographical disparities, resulting in a joint delivery plan;c. work to bring together evidence on “what works” on policies to reducespatial disparities across the UK; andd. co-chaired summits on shared priorities underpinning each of the missions.
What does the report say about Wales?
- The report says that there are "further moves" for civil servants to move to Cardiff.
- Around 500 non-operational Ministry of Justice roles will move to sites including Cardiff, Swansea, and Wrexham by 2030
- Jobs from the following government departments are "targeted" to move to Cardiff; Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS); Cabinet Office' Department culture, media and sport; Department of energy, farming and rural affairs; Department for international trade; Department for levelling up, housing and communities; HMRC; Home Office
An “Islands Forum” will be set up to "provide a regular means of engagement with island communities across the UK", this will include Welsh representatives
The UK Government will "also establish new Freeports in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, working with the devolved administrations"
BEIS will invest in significant research and development projects across the UK including almost £16m in a consortium developing electric propulsion systems for heavy goods vehicles in Cwmbran and Edinburgh and £33m through the cross-sector "Driving the Electric Revolution programme for power electronics machines and drives industrialisation centres in Newcastle/Sunderland, Strathclyde, Nottingham/Warwick and Newport.
The UK Government is spending £35bn on rail including HS2. Since 2015, it says it has spent £5.8m for developing upgrades to Cardiff Central Station (2019); £343m for Welsh Rail, including £196m transferred to the Welsh Government for the Core Valley Line(2020); £76m to complete the electrification of the Severn Tunnel (2020)
A page of the document is dedicated to the Muni Arts Centre, which is receiving previously announced levelling up funding, there is also mention of the Montgomery Canal restoration which is also getting money through that fund
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